The UK Covid-19 Inquiry found on Tuesday that care homes were "something of an afterthought" during the pandemic and that Matt Hancock's claim of a "protective ring" around them was "unfounded", in a report recording more than 43,000 Covid deaths in care homes between March 2020 and July 2022. The Chancellor, John Healey, ruled out a capital gains tax rise a week before his first Budget, the Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, sent RAF Typhoons to defend Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks, and MPs passed the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill by 330 votes to 178. This is UKFCP's 24 hours in politics round-up.
Andy Burnham has been Prime Minister for three months, and his government faces its first Budget on 28 October, with the Jackdaw gasfield decision due on Wednesday morning. Labour sits first in the polls, with YouGov placing Reform UK third behind the Conservatives for a second week.
Covid inquiry finds protecting the NHS sometimes came at the expense of care homes
Baroness Hallett's sixth report, on the care sector, said government policies "created an environment in care settings where the virus could spread like wildfire", and that the failures were "the direct result of an absence of proper pandemic planning" for adult social care. The report found PPE shortages left some care workers wearing festival ponchos and painters' overalls, and called the failure to advise care homes to isolate people discharged from hospital a "significant oversight".
"The claim that a so-called protective ring had been thrown around care homes right from the start was unfounded. Quite the opposite was true."
One recommendation is a voluntary register of adult social care workers in England within two years. Bereaved families called Hancock's claim a "cruel lie", according to the Morning Star and the Daily Mirror. Age UK's Caroline Abrahams called the report "devastating". The Guardian reported that Burnham endorsed its findings and said the culture of undervaluing care workers must end. In Scotland, SNP ministers faced criticism over sending untested patients into care homes, The Scotsman reported.
Healey rules out capital gains tax rise as Badenoch promises £70bn of cuts
Treasury sources told the Guardian, and the Times and City AM reported, that Healey would not raise capital gains tax on 28 October, despite calls from cabinet colleagues including Streeting and Louise Haigh. The Guardian said the Chancellor concluded a rise "might ultimately cost the Treasury" if wealthy people delayed sales or moved assets abroad. Reuters, citing the Times, said a levy on banks would instead fund a temporary cost-of-living package.
Kemi Badenoch used a pre-Budget speech to say the Conservatives would cut more than £70bn of spending to fund tax cuts, including on stamp duty and inheritance tax. "John Healey is not Rachel Reeves, and many people see that as an improvement," she said. Andy Haldane, a former Burnham adviser, told The Independent the government was "not working for the economy". Office for National Statistics figures showed unemployment fell to 4.7% in the three months to August, while vacancies dropped to 691,000 in the three months to September, a five-year low.
RAF Typhoons sent to defend Saudi Arabia
The Ministry of Defence said RAF Typhoons would fly "defensive counter air missions to support the protection of Saudi cities and critical national infrastructure" after a rise in Houthi attacks, including on Riyadh airport. The deployment includes military advisers and an A400M transport aircraft. The MoD said the jets would not carry out offensive strikes, and PA reported they would not operate in Yemeni airspace.
Streeting told reporters he had informed Parliament of the deployment "against what is outrageous Houthi escalation". He called the attacks "absolutely despicable". An MoD source told The Independent it was "in the UK's national economic and security interest" that the Houthis "do not succeed". The UK agreed in September to provide an RAF Voyager refuelling aircraft, according to LBC.
Troubles Bill clears the Commons
MPs gave the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill its third reading by 330 votes to 178, a majority of 152, sending it to the House of Lords. The bill replaces the 2023 Legacy Act, whose conditional immunity scheme was ruled incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, according to RTÉ. It removes blanket immunity, sets up a Legacy Commission and gives the Attorney General in London the final say on prosecutions.
Sir Chris Bryant, the Northern Ireland Secretary, told MPs the bill was "about honesty, candour, the pursuit of justice, and most importantly, truth". Al Carns, the former veterans minister, said on Monday he remained "deeply concerned" and that the approach "deals the best possible hand to our adversaries". The Ulster Unionist Robin Swann called for victims of sexual violence to be included, the News Letter reported.
Also in the last 24 hours
- The government is expected to approve the Jackdaw gasfield on Wednesday morning, the first new North Sea gas project since 2024, according to the BBC, Sky and STV. Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy secretary, said Labour had been "dragged kicking and screaming" into the decision.
- Labour suspended Perran Moon, MP for Camborne and Redruth, over questions about a Covid bounce back loan taken by a company he co-owns. He is the second Labour MP suspended over such a loan, after Bayo Alaba in August, The Independent reported.
- Nigel Farage was booed by his own supporters at a Reform rally in Plymouth after calling the city Portsmouth, HuffPost UK reported. YouGov put Labour on 27%, the Conservatives on 23% and Reform on 22%.
- Jane Dodds stood down as Welsh Liberal Democrat leader after nearly nine years, saying it was time for a "new generation", the BBC reported.
- Counter-terrorism police re-arrested two men from central London on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence over the RAF Fairford incident, under the National Security Act 2023, the Guardian reported.
- The Department for Work and Pensions laid regulations to stop killers and serious sex offenders detained in hospital claiming universal credit, a change campaigned for by the families of Valdo Calocane's victims.
- The BBC confirmed it would close BBC Three, BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4 Extra as broadcast channels in spring 2027, Sky reported.
- Burnham rejected Jeremy Corbyn's call for a Chilcot-style inquiry into UK military cooperation with Israel, according to Novara Media and the Morning Star.
- HuffPost UK reported that the Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, joined Angela Rayner in criticising Shabana Mahmood's immigration plans.
- Flutter, the owner of Paddy Power, cut 1,400 jobs and blamed last year's betting tax rises, the BBC reported.
The next fixed date is Wednesday 21 October, when ministers announce the Jackdaw decision, Burnham faces Prime Minister's Questions, and Wales marks the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster.
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